Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
“That’s so true,” I said. “But then look at my dad. He tossed me and my brother to the side because we were gay… What about your parents? I don’t think we’ve ever talked about them.”
“They’re good parents, just not a good match.” I sensed a shift in Gabe’s tone. His words got lower, his voice carrying something with it. Like a bag of pebbles being dragged over the sidewalk. “Opposites on every level. They’d fight constantly. I’d hear them through the walls, talking about how I was the only thing keeping them together. It was a lot to hear as an eight-year-old. A lot of pressure, a lot of sadness and worry. It lasted until they finally split up when I was twelve.”
I leaned a little closer to him. “Damn, that is hard. I’m sorry.”
“You and your apologies.” He shot me a wink. “Thanks. I made it through, though. So did my parents. It got rocky, definitely. Toxic and dark. Lots of shouting and broken dishes, but they never hurt each other. Not physically, at least.”
“Sometimes the mental scars could be just as bad as the physical.”
“Ain’t that the truth.”
Gabriel smiled, the darkening beard hiding that one dimple on his face that usually made an appearance when he was clean-shaven. It was wild to me how I already knew the geography of his face—and not just his face. Memories rushed back to me, of having him underneath me, his tongue against my hole and his cock throbbing for my touch. If I had a piece of paper, I might be able to draw out the exact shape of him.
Well… maybe not draw. I was always a terrible artist. But I could write the shit out of that scene.
And now I knew a little more about him. Not just about his body but about his soul. He didn’t have to share himself like that with me. We were nothing but bodyguard and client. Maybe friend and friend. But nothing more than that, and that’s how we decided it should be. It was a mutual choice, and I had to respect it.
But fuck did I want to be between his legs right now.
Is that normal? Shouldn’t I just want to be going to sleep right now?
No. I didn’t want to sleep tonight. I wanted to live tonight. Wanted to feel what it meant to be alive. To celebrate the fact that my heart still beat and to make that heart pound a little faster.
“Tired?” Gabriel asked as if reading my mind.
“Actually the opposite.” I sat up, leaning back on the headboard. A heavy door slammed somewhere in the hallway. “I’m still buzzing. I don’t know. I feel like I can run a marathon. That’s weird, right?”
“No, it’s not weird at all.” His voice was low again. This time, I picked up on a subtle growl. Like there was a caged tiger waiting inside of him, wanting to come out.
“Alright, good. Because I’m fuckin’ spinning right now. I don’t know which way is up or down. All I know is that I’m glad you’re here with me right now.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he said, which wasn’t exactly something a bodyguard was expected to say. My heart rate sped up, and I became very aware of just how close our feet were to each other. I decided to say, “Fuck it,” and I shifted so that my foot was directly against the top of Gabe’s.
Skin to skin, heat to heat. The contact made my entire body flush with warmth. For a second, I worried he would move away, but he stayed with his foot under mine, our legs close together, my boxers beginning to feel more and more restrictive.
“I, uh…” My words trailed off as my gaze dropped to Gabe’s big lips, pink and slightly pouty and so fucking perfect.
He licked them, a smirk lifting the corners. His eyes fell to my mouth, and his smirk turned into a smolder. The room felt about five hundred degrees hotter.
“Gabe, I know we’ve talked about us keeping things professionally, but, I dunno, it’s getting harder and harder.”
“Oh, it is?” he asked suggestively.
I smiled, grabbing my bulge and giving myself a stroke. “It is.”
That was all he needed. The green light. Gabriel pushed in, those plush lips of his finding a home against mine, the kiss crashing over me like a warm wave from a crystal-blue Caribbean beach. Refreshing and revitalizing.
Gabriel’s kiss was an antidote, his touch the cure. My life had felt like it had come undone hours earlier, but Gabriel’s hand on my neck and his tongue in my mouth knit it all back together again. I sunk into the feeling, letting my body go, releasing the insane amount of tension that had built up around my shoulders and back, melting into this moment. No worries, no stress, no fear.